Sunday, June 2, 2013

Not when it has been
sold so rapidly after council deeming it not to be!

Glovers Lane Reserve is
not to provide space for recreation, exercise, therapy and education,
or provide a catalyst for neighbourhood and community development, or
be a preserver of green space, three of the definitions of community
gardens by the American Community Garden association.

Ah, Ms Tagalong
thought, perhaps Australians have a different definition. Councillor
Steve Edmonds certainly does. He says 'there is no garden in Glovers
Lane Reserve.' And to make absolutely sure he went back three times
to check!

Ms Tagalong went once.
It looked like this.

And this.

Councillor McCloy might
have a more liberal view, (good choice of words, Ms Tagalong!) But he
said, 'I'm in favour of community gardens but not on certainly
incredibly valuable land like in that location.'

There's the rub. The
next morning after the vote to sell the reserve, the sold sign was
up.

Apparently this is a
question which has caused ructions not only in our council but
overseas too.

In a landmark case in
England in 2008, Lord Justice Moses said, 'The Oxford English
dictionary states that a garden is an enclosed piece of ground
devoted to the cultivation of flowers, fruit or vegetables.

'That definition is
clearly too narrow, as the current fashion for wild gardens and
meadows amply demonstrates.

'The reality is that no
description will categorically establish whether a piece of land is a
garden or not. It is incumbent on the fact finder to determine its
use.

'It is important to look
at the relationship between the owner and the land, and the history
and character of the land and space.'

So, sorry Cooks Hill
residents, the fact finders said you cannot have a garden to promote a sense of belonging to
a community and a sentiment of wanting to give something back. Oh yes you have given the garden back, it has gone to council and so swiftly to a
developer.